Designing Gardens for Birds

Hi everyone, welcome. to the gardening designing gardens for birds with Heather and Zoe Evans. My name is Becca Rodomsky-Bish, and we will get started officially here in just a minute. I’m gonna let a few folks drop in. I can see the number going up as we speak.

Feel free to drop where you are Zooming in from today into the chat. It’s always really, really, really fun to see where people come from all over the place. Yes, the first one’s from Canada, wonderful, welcome, I love it, love it! Oh, look at, fun. This is great.

Again, my name is Becca Rodomsky-Bish. I am the project lead for the Garden for Birds project here at the Cornell Lab. Look at all these locations. Oh, that is just fun. Um, and myself and Mhairi McFarlane, who you see on the screen here, are the two folks that you’ll be interacting with if you are a part of the Garden for Birds project.

It’s a very, very new project here at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, designed really to help support people in supporting birds better in and around their homes and communities through their gardens and their green spaces. And Mharii and I both have a lot of experience with this professionally and a ton of experience with it personally. It’s one of our big passions. So we’re happy to see this project growing at the lab.

And if you sign up with us, you’ll get monthly emails that kind of guide you in this journey about things you can be doing, including adding a lot of native plants, which Zoe and Heather are experts in, and we’ll be talking a lot about today. And, uh, habitat features. And I think Zoe and Heather are going to be talking about some great bird friendly habitat features as well.

So thank you for being here with us today. Happy Daylight Savings. I know that can kind of be a hit or miss day, but it’s a good time to celebrate the return of the sun and all that the birds are probably, um, at least we were talking before we started. They were busy today. They were they were singing and calling and, um, active, so hopefully the same is true for wherever you are calling in from today, which is all over the place. Puerto Rico.

Love it. Denver, East, West Coast, central. This is so exciting. So without further ado, Vari and I are going to turn off our screens. We’re going to try to answer as many questions as we can in the Q&A in the chat. Heather and Zoe are going to take the lead here in just a minute and I will briefly introduce them by saying.

They, um, they are too delightful humans that I had the honor and privilege to meet last year in person, and was immediately impressed with their enthusiasm for this topic and their expertise, and specifically their design eye. Sometimes when we talk about gardening for birds, we don’t always think about how it can be so beautiful and really fit into any space. And Heather and Zoe are experts in both including native habitat concepts, but.

making it really beautiful and welcoming and personalized. So I’m delighted to have them today. Heather and Zoe, thank you for bringing your enthusiasm and your passion and expertise to this webinar today. Without further ado, I hand it over.

Thank you.

Thank you, Becca. So hi, everyone. Welcome to Designing Gardens for birds. I’m Zoe Evans. I’m a Cornell master naturalist, a rewilding coach and co-founder of Design Your Wild with my mom and tonight’s co-teacher, Heather Evans.

Um, I’m now Vice President of Wilder, which is the company behind the Wilder score and the Less Lawn Mower Life Challenge, which you might have heard about, and we’ve got something new coming up this year that we’ll tell you about at the end.

Um, if you’ve been to Heather and my design workshops before, some of this content may be familiar, but we’re approaching it with an emphasis on something all of us love, which is birds.

So thank you so much to Becca and Vari and the Cornell Gardens for Birds team for giving us this opportunity to share this workshop with all of you.

So some of you may already have bird feeders and bird baths, and you may even have a patch of native plants started. But tonight is about stepping back and envisioning a plan for your entire yard. And it’s one that fits your life and creates a healthier place for your kids, your pets, and birds.

Lots of birds. So now I’m thrilled to introduce my mother, Heather Evans.

Hi, I’m Heather. I write Design Your Wild, which is a free newsletter about designing with North American native plants with about 26,000 dedicated subscribers. If you’re not already on the list, I’d love to have you join us. But tonight is all about layout, where things go, how you move through your space, what makes it feel inviting.

We’re also going to talk about how to integrate natural habitat for birds into your layout, as Becca said. Um, and we won’t be covering plant selection or planting plans, but we’ll give you resources for that at the end.

Design is the missing ingredient in so much of the rewilding movement. People know why to plant natives, but they don’t know how to make it all work together. So, back to you, Zoe.

Thank you, Heather. So I’m going to start sharing my screen now. Give me one moment.

All right. So we know that transforming your yard can often feel overwhelming. There’s a lot of budget time and decisions involved, which is why Heather and I like to start with layout, because once you have a plan where you’re going, you can implement it over time at your own pace and you start one zone at a time so you don’t try to do too much at once.

So a few quick things before we dive in. Can you please go and grab your aerial photo or parcel map? Or if you don’t have either of those, do a super rough sketch of your property from above from memory, and it just should have like the house and roughly the area around the house.

So if you have a larger lot, focus on the third of an acre closest to your house.

And, uh, use… also have some thick markers on hand, not pencils. We’re going to lead you through a couple of demos that Heather and I will do, and then some exercises that you’ll do. So have thick markers for that, because neatness, uh, slows you down, and we actually want you to be messy and bold.

Um, we have packed a lot into 90 minutes, and we really hope you’ll try everything, even if it feels a little awkward, because that edge is where the learning happens. Um, I have a degree in neuroscience, actually, and we’ve built this workshop with a lot of learning hacks, including prompts to reflect and use the chat.

So in this workshop, you have access to both the Q&A and the chat.

if you mess this up, it doesn’t matter, but basically use the Q&A to put questions in, and use the chat to respond to Heather and my prompts. You’ll see as we go, there’s going to be some prompts. And we’re only going to answer some questions live, because we really have to pack a lot into this.

Um, but we are going to review everything that’s in the Q&A and the chat after, and Heather answers a lot of questions in her news, her free newsletter, uh, in upcoming newsletters. So ask away, and if you can, if you choose to subscribe to Design Your Wild, you can keep an eye on your inbox.

Um, and also, we’re going to cover a lot, and so if you miss anything, do not worry about it. This is going to be recorded, and it’ll be on the Gardens for Birds website later this week, so you can watch it on your own time.

Um, all right, Heather, please share a bit about our approach to yard transformation.

All right. Our approach is human-centered, all right? I know you’re here because you love birds, but we’re going to focus on how you make your yard restorative to you and your loved ones, and not just support birds and pollinators.

Um, we know from research that even a short daily walk around your yard, just 2 to 5 minutes, can improve both physical and mental health. I take one every morning after breakfast, and I highly recommend building that kind of habit. And don’t worry if your yard is small, just sitting in nature for 20 minutes substantially decreases stress levels.

So our goal today is to help you sketch a layout that draws you and your loved ones outside, so your yard becomes a place that you actually enjoy spending time in.

In addition, the more time that you spend in your yard, the better steward of nature you become, and of course, of birds. So I’m going to be referring throughout to the work of Doug Kent at the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies. His research explores what makes outdoor spaces truly restorative.

not just beautiful or functional, but places people are drawn to.

Kent found that plants engaging your senses and water that’s audible and within reach, um, do matter, and those are important wildlife features, as we’ll talk about. But even more important are structures that shape how we move and feel in a space.

Um, and those are things that are really uniquely important to us as human beings. So that’s what we’re focusing on today, structure. You’re going to be doing live exercises where you sketch the features that invite people to explore, to pause, and to stay.

And your layout’s going to map where you want to walk, sit, eat, and play. And everything else, that’s where native plants go.

So this picture, by the way, is from my yard in Bristol, Rhode Island, and it illustrates what I’m talking about. The yard is average size, which is about a third of an acre. And it was just turf and foundation plants three years before this picture was taken, which was last summer.

Um, now there are several, quote, what we’re going to call rooms, um, like this sunning area with lounges, um, and the shed, which is also new at Wright. Um, everything else that’s not in a room or destination is a native plants. In fact, the area you see behind the lounges.

Planted with menardas and swamp milkweed was filled with goldfinches this summer. You’ll see one in the next image by my husband.

And now, to help you imagine what’s possible in your space, I’m going to hand it back to Zoe, who’s going to do a quick visualization exercise.

All right. So for this part we’re going to do a couple of minutes of a guided visualization. You can think of it kind of like a meditation, and the idea is that imagining is so critical. It helps widen the options in your brain and gives you a sense of possibilities, which I’ll talk a bit more about later.

So for now, can you go ahead and close your eyes if it feels comfortable, or just soften your gaze. And take a deep breath in and out. You’re arriving here.

We are all here together, breathing in and out.

So before we start drawing anything, we’re going to imagine it. You’re going to be heading into the yard you want to create, so not the one that’s there now, but the one that’s possible.

And whatever images come into your head, like, don’t critique them, just let things come and go. Imagine this is a meditation. All right. So you’re inside your house drinking your morning coffee or tea, and you see a hummingbird on a cardinal flower through the window.

You take your coffee mug outside, and you start walking on a path around your house.

you sit on a small… on a chair on the edge of a small lawn surrounded by shrubs. Whoosh. There’s a flash of the black and white tail of a northern mockingbird swooping from a pine to a blueberry bush.

As you continue on the path, you hear tap, tap, tapping from the direction of your snag, that dead tree you left standing. And it’s a downy woodpecker.

You continue walking on your path around your house to a little area where you join a neighbor for some morning exercise, looking out over your mini meadow.

dozens of goldfinches flit among the Madardas as you do some jumping jacks or lift some light weights. Ah, this is the life.

exercise over, you continue on the path around your house, listening to bird song, the rustle of leaves, maybe even water, a small bubble or fountain.

You arrive back at your door feeling refreshed from nature bathing in your own backyard.

Alright, now go ahead and open your eyes. It was a whirlwind quick walk and exercise around your house. But this is what we’re going to help you with today. We’re going to be sketching a simple plan that captures this kind of movement, flow, and feel from your door.

through your whole yard to different rooms along the way, and we’re going to talk about how we bring in things to those rooms that make you want to go outside, because that’s what this is all about, right? Is spending more time in nature and falling back in love with nature.

So before we jump into design, let’s ground ourself in the why behind native plants. Heather and I are going to talk a lot about native plants. Why do they matter? So native plants form the foundation of the food web.

They’ve evolved alongside local insects, birds, and other wildlife, and many of those species cannot survive without native plants. So when you plant natives, you’re not just adding greenery or beautiful flowers or great shrubs. You’re restoring the base of the food chain in your yard.

Most importantly for birders, native plants support caterpillars. So as entomologist Doug Tallamy says, most of North America’s terrestrial bird species, some 96%, in fact, rear their young on insects rather than seeds and berries. And we are learning that in most of those species, the majority of those insects are caterpillars or adult moths.

Caterpillars are so important to breeding birds that many species may not be able to breed at all in habitats that do not contain enough caterpillars. This is why we talk about caterpillars, guys. Caterpillars are high in proteins, fats.

And most importantly, carotenoids, which birds can’t get from seeds and berries. And the numbers of caterpillars needed to bring just one nest from birth to fledging is staggering.

It’s more than 6,000 caterpillars for just one nest. So, biologist Richard Brewer found that over the course of a typical 16-day nesting period, Carolina chickadee parents delivered 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars to bring one.

nest of tiny birds to fledging. And they continued to feed caterpillars to their young for another 21 days. So if we want our yards to support breeding birds, we need caterpillars, and to support caterpillars, we need native plants.

Because most caterpillars are what’s called a specialist eater. They require specific plants that they evolved with in order to mature. So you might have heard how monarch caterpillars will only eat milkweed, which is why we’re all planting milkweed. Well, that sort of special diet tends to be the rule and not the exception.

And these plants that support those specialist species are called keystones. We need keystones. So today we’re going to show you how to design a yard that works for you and for biodiversity. And we’ll be talking a lot about woody natives, so woody plants like shrubs and trees, which do a surprising amount of heavy lifting, both for design and for ecology.

Our top Keystone tree is an oak. It supports 500 different species of caterpillars in most areas. The top perennial, which is a goldenrod, supports about over just over 100. Um, and so those are just the caterpillar stage, but for those of us who love birds, caterpillars are absolutely critical. So this is why Heather and I are going to hammer this home through this whole lecture.

So if you already have a pollinator patch or have begun integrating native plants around your yard, that’s a starting powerful starting point. This is the first patch that I planted 3 years ago, where I am in the the Hudson Valley, New York.

Um, but many of you are ready to go further than just a patch. Because you’re not just transforming one corner, you’re starting to see your whole yard differently. So this workshop is going to help you step back and look at the big picture, and we’ll guide you through a process where you think about how to use your entire space, and it’s not just about what you might do now.

or what you might do this spring, but what to prioritize next fall or next year? Because by the end, you’ll have a clear first plan, uh, first draft plan that connects your patch to that larger vision. And this piece about implementing over time at your own pace with consideration for your budget, your energy and goals is critical and a plan is what unlocks that.

And it also sets you up to become a true steward of your land, because the best yards aren’t just full of life, they’re places where you actually want to be. And that’s where design comes in, because it’s not just what you plant, but it’s how you shape the space.

And honestly, how you arrange the plants within that play space, what we call the planting plan, is much less important than the overall structure that the plants are filling in. And you’ll see what we mean as we go through. So Heather is going to walk us through the layout principles of a restorative landscape, and that’s a landscape that’s restorative for humans.

and show us how to create a yard that supports both nature and you and your loved ones’ health and wellness.

Great. Thank you, Zoe. So it’s true, a yard full of native plants can be… support an incredible amount of biodiversity, but unless it’s a place that you actually want to spend time, it won’t become part of your daily life. And that’s where layout matters. So, Doug Kent’s research shows that the features that make a yard feel welcoming and restorative aren’t just about the plantings. They’re things like rooms, hallways, and a sense of enclosure.

Together, these elements create what he calls, as Zoe said, a restorative landscape. So I’m going to walk you through each of these in a moment, but first, let me show you how you can completely transform how these things can completely transform a space.

So, before the designers at Dirt Queen NYC transformed this small square yard, it’s in Brooklyn, New York, it was not a place the homeowners wanted to spend time. As you can see, it’s not inviting, although it looks pretty much like a typical American yard.

But there are no rooms, nothing divides it into functional areas, nothing draws you into the yard. And, by the way, um, things covered, like that, uh, that’s a fire pit, actually, there, are not… that are not inviting, don’t count.

So now we want you to look at the after. Mm-hmm.

Um, so would you show them the after? All right, there we are. All right. So you can see that there are now three rooms. All right, and what I’m calling rooms in the garden. Um, from left to right, there’s a dining area.

a fire pit area and the grill area. So everywhere else is greenery, and that’s what I’m calling… we’ll call green enclosure. Um, greenery becomes the walls of your outdoor rooms.

Um, so let’s talk about what, um, let’s look at, uh, the, um, again, how we… Um, okay, so Zoe’s put up there. So I want you… what you’re going to do in this session is you’re going to draw a bird’s eye view, since we’re birders here, a bird’s eye view of your, uh, um, lot, or of the area around your house.

So, um, you can see that there were previously no rooms, but now, as I showed you, there are 3, and I spent about 2 minutes sketching the yard on the left and putting it on paper, as you see on the right. And that’s essentially what you’re going to do in this workshop.

Okay. So just want to interrupt here. Just research shows that drawing quickly rather than painstakingly encourages creativity. I mentioned this earlier, but you’re going to come up with much better design if you try many rough sketches than if you try to take a lot of time over each one. So as we go into the exercises section, you might be like, Wow, Heather and so you’re telling me to do this in like 5 min. I need more time.

It’s on purpose. We want you to do this rapid iteration, and you’re going to continue this later. You’re going to take this away and keep testing, because when you spend too much time on a design, and you become invested in it, it’s hard for you to see alternatives that might be better. And this is actually why a lot of professional designers don’t like CAD, and why we do not recommend the available garden design apps, which are all very precise.

or terrible AI. So remember, neatness constrains creativity, so be fast, be messy, and we’re gonna keep reminding you of that later.

All right. Thank you, Zoe. That’s so important. So this is a square yard, and I started with a square outline. So if you don’t have a lot map of your lot, you can you can just sketch one yourself. And then I drew the three rooms and hallways of the after yard.

And I also added the windows and doors of the house, which are very important to orienting your, uh, your design. Because remember, everything that isn’t a room or a hallway is planted. So, one last thing about this plan, I, um, outlined the rooms, or what I consider sort of the rooms with part of the hallway in yellow. And can you see how simple the design is?

Um, these are three-stepped rectangles that are a really creative approach to breaking up a square yard. Um, you… and remember that everything outside of that that’s green is planted. It’s not grass anymore, it’s planted, um, so you can’t walk on it. So… Again, the usable space is now the rooms. But in terms of design, you might remember from science class the concept of Occam’s razor. The simplest theory that accounts for all the variables is the best one. Well, designers apply a similar rule. The simplest design that meets all the requirements is generally the best.

So designers call that kind of a solution elegant.

Okay, I’ve got two comments here. So one is what they used here, this gravel and these stones. That’s what we called hardscaping. Everything else is softscaping. That’s the vegetation. As far as I’m concerned. Unless they needed to for some reason they could have left this hardscaping just as turf, and you’ll see in our examples that Heather and I like to just use turf. If you don’t have to be, if you don’t have to add irrigation.

or use any chemicals, we like to leave turf. So just know that that’s an option they could have done here. The second thing I want to call out is the shape of these rooms. So the ones that Heather really outlined in yellow. This is this looks to me as if the rectangles all follow what’s called the golden ratio, where the sides are about one and a half the length of the ends. So this is if you choose one length and then you multiply it by one.

That’s how you can figure out a good proportion for your spaces. It’s a common proportion in nature, and it’s a great starting point for rectangular shapes or oval shapes in your design, and we’ll mention that again later.

All right, so thank you. So rooms, what we’re calling rooms, are places that you want to go and spend time. Kent and his researchers call them destinations, and sometimes we’ll call them destinations, too. Garden rooms are traditional design element, but what I want you to think about is how they function, how rooms pull elements together into a sense of whole.

The functional character of rooms also helps decide where features belong, so like outdoor dining rooms usually make most sense outside the door closest to the kitchen, and you’ll want the grill in that area as well, which actually they didn’t do in that, but it was such a small yard that it doesn’t really matter.

Um, rooms in simple, intentional shapes signal that you’ve arrived. So, when we do our demos, you’ll see that starting with human spaces differs from starting with flower beds. When you start by adding beds, you often end up with oddly shaped spaces between them that aren’t as comfortable for your human visitors.

And as Zoe said, for rectangles and ovals, it’s helpful to use the golden ratio. So, um, one side is about one and a half times the other.

So, I saw somebody said no birdbath, which is a good point. For birders, and really for anyone who wants a, uh.

a wildlife space, you do need water. Um, and we’re going to list in just a moment a whole lot of habitat features. So, the best rooms to start with for birders are simply a place to sit.

Um, and a bird feature. Um, a bird habitat feature. Um, so when seeding is so important, Doug Kent found that if you have a bench on the side of a path, even if nobody uses it, people felt a greater sense of comfort and enjoyment in the overall space.

And I’m going to show you a case study of how we transformed a yard with nothing but a bunch of used furniture scored off of Facebook Marketplace. So as I said, for birders, seeding plus bird habitat makes a room, and you should fit several into even the smallest yard.

Um, you’re going to want different types of seating for yourself and your loved ones, for eating or relaxing, um, and in different sunlight conditions. So instead, for example, of having one seating area with an umbrella, have two, one in the sun and the other in shade. And different habitats going to attract different types of birds.

This garden was designed for a birder by Liza Kiesler of Viburnum Gardens. The bench sits in front of a newly built house, um, looking out at a native shade garden edged by conifers. It’s super peaceful, despite there being a road just on the other side of the conifers.

So, which is that enclosure concept we mentioned briefly.

So, as you think about your yard, think about where you can put seeding plus one of these habitat features. Um, I’m not going to read them all, but I’m going to mention a few. Particularly in the context of this image, which is another image of my own backyard. So, as you saw, the Minardas in the.

foreground, provide seeds for goldfinches and other species, and that’s one type of bird habitat. The Minardas also do double duty as host plants, as do most natives. They host more than a dozen caterpillars. In the middle ground, um, and maybe you could show Zoe with the.

cursor, um, there’s a hedge of native witch hazel, um, hiding in the… which hides the driveway from the backyard. So the human purpose of the hedge is privacy and a sense of enclosure, but it’s doing double duty for birds. Chickadees, titmice, jays, woodpeckers, nuthatches, finches, and cardinals eat the witch hazel seeds.

And more than 60 caterpillar species use it as a host plant.

Um, do you see, then, in the far back left a snag, the dead tree?

That’s a very important habitat feature, um, for, for example, woodpeckers. Um, and one that’s rare in suburban landscapes. The National Wildlife Federation suggests that we should have 3 snags for every… per acre to support wildlife.

So here’s another room in my 3rd acre yard. You might call it an outdoor living room. It’s an oval of lawn on the south side of the house, not far from the back door and grill, and as you can see, it includes a dining area and a lounge area, all surrounded by native plants. For example, there’s a blueberry bush on the right that mockingbirds, catbirds, and cardinals just love.

And actually, the area in the foreground is a mixture of shrubs and fairly tall perennials that are really just filler as the shrubs grow in, and there are things like dogwoods and viburnums there, which, again, are, um.

or have berries that feed birds. So, as someone pointed out earlier, water features are a must for a wildlife garden, and in our gardens at this point, we’ve just scattered shallow trays of water among the plants, which you can do, which is perfectly good to do, but we’re going to be building a small bubbler, and so with a solar plump.

pump next summer, um, in Rhode Island. Uh, and in Florida right now, we’re building a natural pond like the one you see on the left, and Zoe and I are going to be hosting a webinar in April on building a natural pond. You can fit a wildlife pond in even the smallest urban garden, like the one on the right. Well, I wouldn’t say it’s the smallest, but it is a typical small, narrow urban garden. You can see how the pond is sited in the lower half.

To be viewed from two seating rooms. The cafe arrangement of spun fiberglass furniture in the foreground, two chairs and a table, and then the single Adirondack chair in the mid-ground.

So several rooms for sitting and birding make a great yard, but I want to encourage you to think bigger, dream bigger, beyond seeding what will draw you into your yard? Maybe a workout shed like mine, which you see here, or a backyard office. You don’t have to build these now. The idea of designing is to plan for the future, so planning prevents you from planting a tree in the ideal place for a shed that you’ll eventually.

build. Other possible destinations include whoops, hold on. Um, a hot tub, a stank, a stock tank pool, a natural swimming pool, other areas where your kids or grandchildren can climb or swing or make a fort, or a game area. Think badminton, basketball, bocce, croquet, volleyball, putting, cornhole, or lawn bowling.

There are so many things that you can do, depending on what you enjoy.

Um, in our approach to garden design, um, and edibles or cutting garden is also a room. An edibles garden can be a few herbs in pots, a large vegetable garden, um, in many places, that needs to be enclosed, um, because of deer.

Uh, or a small orchard. Um, or if you want to eat your own berries, consider making a bird-proof berry cage. Alternatively, you can grow blackberry or raspberry canes in rows held up by twine strung between sturdy posts, as you see on the right.

Birds find it hard to perch on the canes in this arrangement. Personally, I know Zoe and I grow lots of berry plants, but we just let the birds eat everything, and then as we’re doing our daily strolls, you know, we get to pick a few for ourselves.

Um, I mentioned also a cutting garden. A cutting garden is an area for exotic flowers, um, just for cutting. So I count these non-native gardens as destinations, because I’m assuming the rest of your yard is native plants.

As Doug Tallamy’s research shows, yards with about 70% native vegetation support nesting birds, so we want you to strive for two-thirds for the birds, um, or certainly we do in our planting.

Um, but other plantings can be destinations, including native plantings. One of our past students is creating a gorgeous labyrinth out of wildflowers. However, remember that paths and destinations are places for you to stroll and sit and play, and they’re going to be surrounded by plants. You know, the plants are going to be your.

the walls of your entire garden. Um, so, uh, think of these native plantings and the birds, bees, and butterflies. They, uh, they attract as artwork along your paths and around your seating areas.

So I’ve run through these examples very quickly, but I’m hoping they inspire you to add destinations to your yard. So let’s take a moment to reflect and inspire each other. In the chat, would you please put.

either one or several destinations you’d like to add to your yard, or what will you put in the farthest reach of your yard to get you and your household outside?

Oh, I see chicken coop and run. That’s great. Yeah, so this. Yep.

be self-sustaining water feature. Yes, and knowing that moving water is really fantastic and important for birds. Mack.

a hammock, shady seating.

bench with herb pots, um, birdhouses, a pond and a seating area. Wow, this is going by so fast. This is fantastic. Um, bench at the top of the hill. Great. Yeah, so you’ll see as we start the design exercises, that thing that’s going to draw you out to the furthest area is so important.

So important. Yeah. See somebody saying a snag, that’s great. A memorial grove, Tom, that’s wonderful. So thoughtful. A trellis, compost piles, uh, fruit and nut trees area. Okay, these are amazing. Keep them going, because remember, these prompts are.

are for this, but it’s a lot for you, so keep them going. Um, and Heather, back to you.

Alright, so the average yard is more than 10,000 square feet, and that’s a lot. So imagine a 10,000 square foot house. Most of us don’t, um, don’t need that many outdoor rooms. Um, so you’re going to fill your place with lots of plants.

But we want you to use your entire yard, so we encourage you to spread your rooms out. That’s why we ask you to think about the farthest corner of your yard. Um, and then connect them with a circuit of paths, the hallways of your outdoor house. Um, and in fact, in today’s exercises, you’re going to think, um.

about the circuit that you’re going to make around your house before you draw any rooms. So we suggest, as I said earlier, that you make a habit of strolling the circuit of your yard daily to see the changes that are happening all the time. Something new blooming, another developing seeds or fruit, or a different bird or butterfly passing through.

If possible, the loop should circle your house, but if your property is big, more than a third of an acre, you’ll probably want to make a loop around the house, and then add paths into other areas. If you’re… and you’ll see that in Zoe’s example. If your backyard is fenced, think about the loop around, um.

around that area, so your internal backyard. Of course, there are some yards that are too small for a loop, like the urban garden that I showed you earlier. In that case, you’ll be joining rooms more closely, as in an interior floor plan.

For many of us, our outdoor rooms will have a carpet of grass, so we said that earlier when we looked at that Brooklyn one, they had put gravel and pavers, but grass that’s already there makes a great path and destination service.

surface. I think you saw in my Rhode Island yard, both the outdoor living area and the sunning area were just turf. It’s sort of a mixed turf that I don’t… we don’t fertilize or irrigate.

Um… Uh-huh.

Heather, I’m going to interrupt you briefly for a moment. There’s a couple of things I want to address that I’ve seen in chat. So one, for folks with bigger properties, we’re focusing on the area right around your house, like the third of an acre, because it gets you using your space more. If you’ve already finished designing that, you can start thinking about destinations further out.

But for now, you know, we think about that area, and then as you start to fill that in, you move further out. I’ve started already adding lots of destinations in my larger property. Another thing to consider is folks have mentioned sloped yards. We’re going to have a demo that’s about sloped yards. You’ll either use existing flat places.

Or you might have to level some of them. That’s something to think about. And then the last thing is some people asked about, you know, replacing turf with native sedges. Native sedges are amazing habitat, and for those of us who have all lawns, replacing all of that turf immediately is a lot of work. And so you might start by carving out your rooms, which is how we think about dividing the space into workable formats. Somebody asked about that.

And you might eventually replace that turf with native sedges, but think about priorities. Those native sedges, like turf is great to walk on. It handles traffic really well, and you can replace it eventually, but you have a lot more things to do in order to create an area that makes you feel comfortable in it.

And you can add a lot of value by replacing the areas outside the rooms first, and then when you finish that, you’re welcome to go back and add those native sedges instead of turf grass, but we just don’t prioritize that.

Yeah, the turf grass thing is… I mean, we could talk forever about this, Zoe and I going back and forth, but I… but what’s really important, you see this on the, uh, in this image, uh, is that you’re filling lots of other areas. Turf, and Doug Tallamy will says this.

Turf is great for what pets play and paths, okay? So, um, so we’re thinking more about replacing everything else, and as Zoe said, you know, it’s priorities. We’re talking about usually planting thousands of plants, and even a relatively small yard, and there’s lots of ways you can do this and to decrease the cost over time.

Uh, but, you know, having turf that you don’t fertilize or use herbicides on, um, or pesticides, and you don’t need to water is good. The gravel… we both have gravel. Gravel can be a big problem. I mean, you have to really upkeep gravel, um, if you live in places with a lot of water. If you don’t have a lot of water, gravel works great.

We like gravel, but you do have to think seed into it. They don’t grow up it, but we’re going to share in the chat the, uh, something on hardscaping. So just briefly, a little bit more on hardscaping.

Um, so the average the other great options, and this is in the article that we’re share are wood chips, timber, gravel, and used bricks, cobblestones, and pavers. So the path on the left is wood chips, and see now this would be a wood.

that nobody would normally walk into. But see how the owner put a path at the end of the path, a chair at the end of the path, and it just draws you into the woods. So, a chair makes a room, and that’s really important. A lot of you put in features like.

garden features, um, but, uh, but think about the room. So, for example, that it is part of, and how you’re going to use it, and why… what that feature is going to do for your experience of the yard.

Um, if parts of your yard are inaccessible, for example, with a steep slope that nobody wants to walk up or down, you may want to add steps or a bridge, like you see it right, at the right there. Um, and we recommend, though, in general, using the minimal amount of hardscape necessary to make your yard a place where you and your family want to spend time.

And I could go on and on about hardscape, but as I said, we’ll share the article with you, because now we want to get into the demo, so are you ready?

All right. So remember how earlier Heather mentioned that we transformed a yard with nothing but a bunch of used furniture. It’s not quite true. We also used flags and a lawnmower and some seeds, but it is a pretty radical transformation. So Heather is going to try to sketch the design live.

Um, so we’re gonna give her a second to set up her iPad.

And what we’re going to show you is my sister’s Lila’s property, which we’ve shared about in the Design Your Wild newsletter. And, um, Heather, let’s see, is it… yep, you’re sharing now. So this is about a third of an acre, which is average in the U.S, um, and the existing vegetation was mostly all turf grass with a few trees along the bottom edge and the road.

Um, and Lila didn’t want to spend a lot of money transforming her yard, so we decided to plan a couple of rooms that were focused on seating, and then put native seeds everywhere else to make it a native meadow. Um, and then later on, we added some trees and shrubs, uh, which, uh, you’ll see.

See you later. So I’m going to walk Heather through sketching a yard layout using the same steps that you’re gonna… we’re gonna have you do next. So again, I’m gonna walk Heather through this, and then you’re gonna do the same thing.

So Heather, can you go? Yeah, this is a topographic map. We got this from Lila’s county parcel access website. Many of you probably have access to one of these here. The dash lines so slopes. So this is the third of an acre, and has a quite a few slopes, and we need to consider that as we site destinations.

Now, Lila’s not going to be investing in leveling any of the areas, which can honestly be done pretty affordably with somebody with a machine if you have access. But for Lila’s yard, the rooms need to be placed on already flat areas, and luckily she had a couple of those. So, Heather.

First, can you draw in any hardscape, like the driveway or Lila’s existing porch that was not on this map.

you can use black for this great. So Heather’s putting in the porch. This is made out of wood. It’s got some steps up to it, and now she’s drawing in the driveway. So these are things we are not moving. Heather, can you also put in the 2 big trees that are not on this image? Oh, we lost you now.

Wait a second. Sorry. Okay.

Okay. So our mom and my sister. So all right. So you’re gonna put in the 2 big trees, the the Japanese maple, non-native maple, and… Great. And then the other, the oak. So for those of you with existing big trees or existing, you know, plants you don’t want to move, you’ll indicate these at this stage on your map as well. Um…

Wait, Zoe, slow down. Actually, I don’t. I think you’re talking about a tree here, but I wouldn’t say I would spend a lot of time. Yes.

in the pre-mapping. Okay.

Oh, yeah, that’s a good one. Don’t worry too much about it. All right. So next, you’re going to think of… you’re gonna just think about a circuit. So this is an like we did in the visualization, a nice walk around the house. We don’t want it too close to the house or the road, and it to cover as much of the property as accessible. So, Heather, because it’s in your mind, can you show us using green.

Um, uh, what you’re thinking. So Heather’s drawing a circuit. So, usually we would tell you to go all the way around the house. That’s how we, like, challenge you to think at first, but Lila’s house sits right on the lot line, so instead of trespassing on her neighbors, the circuit can’t go all the way around, so we just do this kind of loop, but it still covers most of the yard.

All right, Heather, now erase that line. All right, great. So the next step, you’re going to identify 3 to 5 rooms that you might place along your circuit. So Lila had nothing existing, and she wanted 3 things. She wanted seating close to the kitchen and office. She wanted sun lounges with an area for playing some lawn games, and she wanted shaded seating for hot days.

So, Heather, would you start sketching these using rough shapes, circle, oval or square, and put a destination on the farthest edge of the path?

So, yeah, so Heather’s putting this up there. That’s a pretty flat area rate and she’s filling this in. It’s a rough shape. That’s gonna be where it’s sunny there. Lila can put some loungers and do lawn games. Now, Heather, can you add a shaded seating area?

And this is why I had her mark the trees, so you guys can see. Can you put it under? Yes, so there’s another flat area under that maple over there. And now can you put an area seating area close to the house right outside where her office is.

So this is another pretty flat area in between those two kind of sloped lines. So now we’ve got 3 destinations. Heather, can you also indicate on the porch where we’re going to give Lila a little bit of seating right outside her kitchen?

Yeah.

Great. So Heather just drew a circle up there just to give you a sense, like, we want things that are close to the house and far away from the house. All right. Now, Heather, you’re going to use green again, because it’s we’re leaving turf grass, and connect those rooms with a path.

and you’ll see as Heather do this, she’s starting at the driveway. She’s going into the first room. She’s going to connect it to the next one, and then finish that kind of thing that she showed originally. Now, as you can see, these paths go directly into the circles. They don’t run alongside it. This is important. It creates good angles. It makes it really inviting to go into a room. So unless you’re going into a shed or something, you want your path to really hit the center of the room.

So tag. Oh, yes. or rather be centered on a… on a… or… go a lot… essentially enter perpendicular to.

a wall of the room. Think about it that way. Yes.

Great. Yeah. So. Here, guys, this is a design. There are going to be some additional steps that will walk you through to test and refine and add to it. But this is a great basic layout to start from.

And it’s very different from what Lila started with, which was just a bunch of grass. Um, so, but to help you visualize that, Heather, before we move on, can you use yellow, which is going to be Lila’s primary color palette, and color in everything that is going to be native plants.

Great. So Heather’s adding in like basically everywhere that is not for humans is going to be native plants. In Lila’s case, it’s a meadow that she seeded. For many of you it might be more trees and shrubs or sedges, or all these different types of plants. But remember.

Two-thirds for the birds. We want 70% native species in our yard. A monoculture of turf grass? There’s no native species. So this process of starting with placing rooms first is very different than creating.

beds or little pollinator patches. And the difference is that when you start with installing patches of vegetation, which there’s no issue, and you can incorporate them into your design, but when you just follow that, you end up with leftover turf in, like, odd shapes that don’t create this feeling of a room.

So our brain processes geometric shapes like circles and squares as intentional. And our goal is to create human-centered spaces within a wild yard with things to do in each of these rooms, so that you want to go there.

So these geometric shapes and the clearly defined rooms are what communicate that sense to your brain and your nervous system that you have arrived. And that’s what’s so important to the sense of restorativeness that we want from our designed yards. Remember, we are doing this approach is all about.

Restorative landscapes for humans that also support incredible wildlife. So now Heather is going to stop sharing and it’s your turn. So I’m going to pull back up.

The slides, which hopefully you can see, and here are the instructions. So I’m going to walk you through these. You can go at your own pace if you are faster or slower than me. So now, does everyone shake it off? Give me a thumbs up. Just I can’t even see you, but show me you’re ready.

Um, so you’re gonna have just 5 minutes for this, and you can do this with pen and paper or a tablet, um, like we do. Um, and if you don’t have a property photo, no problem, just do that quick sketch of your house and yard from above, and you can always come back later.

So all right, 1st things first, st remember, be bold. Use thick tipped markers if you have them be messy. Don’t bother erasing, and then remember the most important thing, which is, you literally cannot get this wrong. This is just a draft. You’re the only one who has to see it, and you’re going to get a second chance to do this in the next exercise, and then as many chances as you want.

So just as I did from Heather, I’ll read the steps, and you can come along with me or do your own thing.

So start by drawing in any fixed elements or major existing features that won’t move. So things like the driveway or the porch, or if you have a shed or a patio or mature trees. And just again, nobody’s reading this except for you, so just do super rough sketches. It doesn’t need to look like anything that I could read.

So I’m going to give you 30 seconds to do this. This is the rapid part.

All right. So now you’re going to think about your circuit. So this is a walk around your house or yard. The reason we have you do this first is because every day you should be going out for 5 min and walking some sort of a path.

It should be not to house to the house… not too close to the house or the road, and just imagine where it’s gonna go. Or you could lightly trace it in if that’s helpful. If you’re… if your house is a long… if your yard is a long rectangle, you might only be able to go up and back. That’s fine.

Just do it. So if you’re stuck, just pick a loop or a winding route that hits most of your usable skates space and you can keep testing this out.

By the way, what Heather and I are using to draw our map, by the way, is literally just the markup tool on an iPad. So it’s like, if you’re in the Photos app and you go to edit, and it gives you the little drawing image. That’s what we’re doing. It’s the most basic functionality. So if you’re on an iPad, just go and use that, and use the thick tipped highlighter.

Alright, so now you’re going to come up with 3 to 5 new rooms that would actually get you and your people outside more. So if you already have seating areas or patios, those may be already marked on your plan. If you don’t have seating, start there.

So you want a sunny spot, a shady spot, and a spot to eat.

Um, if you already have those, maybe you want, you know, all those other incredible things people put in the chat. So you want a fire pit, a veggie garden, a gym zone like there’s somebody called you a fit queen earlier when you’re showing your workout gym, which I.

That was delightful. Um, or an art shed, or, you know, your, um, birdwatching areas, like a moving water feature, a bird bath, a… maybe you have a yard with a tree that’s dying, and instead of cutting it down, you let it stay up, and you just make it into a snag. That’s not going to fall in your house.

We’ll share resources later about snagging. Okay, so you have those things using rough shapes to sketch your new rooms. Add them onto the drawing. You can use circles, ovals, or rectangles. Don’t be precise, and start with the room at the farthest edge of the circuit. So again, even in a small yard.

a bench is a room. So you could add a tiny table or a bench and add it the furthest away you can from your front door. And the reason for this is that human well-being. We know that spending a couple minutes outside is so good for our nervous systems.

So what’s going to get you to walk the farthest away from your front door? You know, within that kind of third of an acre around your house?

And then once you’ve added that, again, at this point, you’re just kind of filling in space. You don’t even have to know what goes there. Add your other couple rooms. A circle or a rectangle, super rough.

Add your other rooms. and 3 to 5 of them.

even a tiniest yard. Heather and I just taught a whole workshop on balconies that are, like, 200 square feet. You can do this in a balcony, guys.

Um… All right, we’ve got, by the way, just so you know, three minutes left for this exercise, so… or not even 3 minutes, we’ve got 2 minutes left, so we’re going along here.

Once you have all of your rooms on your paper or your ipad, we want you to connect them with paths to complete that circuit.

And remember the past to generally enter and exit each room perpendicularly. If it’s a structure like a shed, you’re adding one of Heather’s workout sheds. You can. It runs alongside it. But otherwise enters and exits, and you want that circuit to be as big as possible in whatever space you’re working with.

All right. I’m going to give you one more minute. Um, and I see fantastic conversation in the chat. You guys are all doing so great.

And by the way, if any of you, if the chat’s too confusing, just close it. Just, you don’t have to look at it.

Okay. 10 more seconds. You’re adding your rooms, you’re adding your paths.

And just remember, you literally, you cannot get this wrong. Alright, so times are up, pens down. You have just made your first layout.

Looking at your plan, imagine how everything that is not a room or a path is going to get planted with native plants.

and we’re going to give you, and it’s it doesn’t happen all at once, guys. This takes years. It just gives you a sense of where you’re going to go. I see Christine saying, I’m making circular paths so you can end up back where you started, and I love that. That’s how mine works. So if you’re able to do that, that’s fantastic.

So we’re going to give you a chance to do the another version in a bit, and actually you’re going to do 3 in total today. But later we actually recommend getting outside to walk it and see how it feels in real life. And like here in New York, where we’ve had feet of snow on the ground for months.

Today, for the first time, I can actually see the ground. So for many of you, this might start being a time that you can get outside now. Otherwise, in maybe a few weeks. So, to test layouts on the ground, we use landscape flags to mark the paths and the rooms. You can see those little orange pops along that mode path.

So this is Lila’s house. There’s that maple that I mentioned. So we marked the path along the back of the house with a single row of flags.

Initially, this path was actually closer to the house. But once we marked it out, it felt too cramped, so we moved it further back. And that sense of scale is something that you figure out on the ground. You don’t need to be exact on your drawing, right? You do this in real life.

One thing to note about paths, I generally find that a lot of people put their paths too close to the house. They have these tiny foundation plants, and then their path is, like, right next to the house. General guidance, if you have space for it, pull your path further out. You want to be able to seek people coming at you if you’re inside the house, and you don’t want them to be able to peer in your window.

So if you feel too exposed inside when somebody’s walking along the path, and I literally sent Heather outside when I was marking mine and had her walk, you know, back and forth a bunch of times, if you feel too seen in your house, push the path further out, give you more space.

Um, so once we were happy with the placement of the flags, we mowed a path through it that was about two lawn mowers wide. This is what we call a primary path, right? Lila had one big path. She might have some other subsidiaries off of it, but we want.

people to know when they look at a path, that this is where they’re supposed to walk. So that primary path should be 3 to 6 feet wide. If you’re in an area with a lot of ticks, and you have a lot of space, I would go 6 feet wide. That gives you space to walk along this.

and not brush up against those plants on the side. So just in just one weekend, we laid out and mowed all the paths and rooms you saw in Heather’s sketch. And then the following weekend, we planted one flat of black-eyed Susan plugs into the meadow area. So plugs are in a small, deeply rooted plants. One flat is about probably 150 bucks for 50 plants.

And then that fall we seeded in a native meadow mix. We subsequently replaced this chain link fence in the back there with some shrubs, a row of wax myrtles. And then we actually also added more shrubs and trees to give a better like a greater sense of enclosure. And Heather and I are going to talk more about that later.

Um, and we also added furniture, which we scored for cheap on Facebook Marketplace, um, including some chairs under this tree facing the path, again, facing it to draw you in. And Facebook Marketplace, great. Used furniture, great. Don’t spend a lot of money on new furniture. Heather’s got.

bunch of articles on furniture. It’s, like, one of our favorite topics. Uh, we want things that are, like, used, upcycled, and also resilient to the outdoors.

Um, so the result was a delightful yard that Lila spends time working, um, sunning and hanging out with friends.

And it was totally transformed. So you’ll notice that this slide says in your yard, there’s going to be a couple of these throughout the workshop, so pay attention to these slides, because these are the steps that you’ll do on your own time to test and refine your designs. So make a note or review the recording after. Here you’re using flags and a lawnmower.

Um, so now I’m going to present another case study to introduce some design concepts for you to apply in your next step.

which are views and regulating lines. So in very sad statistics, Americans spend only 8% of our time outside, and most of that is spent walking between a car and a building. Now, we’re you’re all birders, so maybe you’re spending more time, but that’s the average, and that’s.

Not great. Views of our gardens make our time inside the house more enjoyable and seeing nature, nature, even from inside, actually improves our mental and physical health. So great hack.

have great views. Views also draw us outside into the garden, because, as Heather and I have been talking, maybe you’ve realized that design is all about intentionality, and what we want you to take away from this discussion of views and key focal points is that objects and plants in your landscape are most effective when you place them somewhere for a purpose. We’re not just putting things willy nilly.

So, one way of designing views into our landscape is by centering a path, tree, or seeding on a window. So you can see in this image, this path is centered on the window. And as we go into the next case study and sketch exercise, consider what the inside-outside integrated experience that you’re creating is, because.

It really helps pull you outside. So the other thing I’m going to mention, and you’ll see in the demo is regulating lines, regulating lines are a tool that we use to figure out where to place our rooms and how big to make them. So the size is their scale.

Scale is critical to good designs. You want to make sure the spaces feel right. A lot of what makes something feel right is a nervous system thing and it’s figured out on the ground with flags and furniture testing. And I’ll show you more about furniture testing in a bit.

Regulating lines will give you a rough idea of how to play with size on the ground. So in this next demo, we’ll show you how I used views and regulating lines inciting the paths and rooms in my own yard. And I’m going to pull up my iPad while Heather tells me what to do this time.

This is fine.

All right, I’m going to walk Zoe through the same steps that you’re going to do in the next exercise. Um, so it’s similar to what we did in the demo of Lila’s yard, but we’re going to be using regulating lines and views in this case.

Yeah, there’s so much faster than me. Um, so Zoe, please, uh, let’s get you to pull it up first. So regulating lines are just imaginary lines that you draw by extending the walls and the windows and doors.

of your house, and it helps you to put your yard features into the same scale as the house. So, Zoe, um, would you draw lines, um, extending from, I think white would be good. Are you going to use white?

I’m using white, I just have to be… Um… Okay, extending from each wall of your house and from each of your doors.

So, Zoe’s going to draw these essentially as far as she can. She’s… there’s a big hill on the back part of her property, so she’s going to stop where she hits that hill.

So, uh… All right. So I did the walls. Heather, what I’m going to draw now is whoops after I do this last line. I’ll draw in the doors. Can you tell them why?

Okay, the front door… okay, yes, so the front door, there’s a path, an existing path. Okay? And then the back door.

Okay.

Um, and one of the benefits of these is because you can’t see around the corners of your house, you’ve already divided the… your property into kind of natural rooms, okay? So those of you with narrow urban backyards, where the house extends from one side of the yard to the other, you can extend the lines from the edges of your first floor windows and doors to create your regulating lines. It’s relating.

This… the scale of your house to this to the scale in the yard. All right, so step two. Zoe, would you indicate 2 or 3 key views with an X about 15 feet from the windows.

All right. Now, everyone, the location of the X is arbitrary. It’s just to remind Zoe to think about that view. So, Zoe, would you explain the problem with the existing backyard view?

Yeah, so this is the backyard view that I’m doing here. When I got the house, there was this fence that went right into the middle of my living room window, and I can tell you there is nothing more inviting than looking or less inviting than looking directly on a fence. So I wanted to move that.

All right. So from this part, you’re really going to just do the same exercise as we did before over again, but now you’re going to try to see how the regulating lines and thinking about the views change how you want to design your landscape.

Now, of course, you didn’t see Zoe do it before, so, um, the next instruction, as you’ll recall from the first one, is to sketch an existing hardscaping outbuildings and features, so only the very major ones that you’re keeping. So, Zoe already added her front path.

And she’s not going to draw the existing patio because she wanted a much larger entertaining area, more connected to her back door. Zoe, would you show the original patio so people get a sense of that scale versus what you’re going to end up doing?

Here we go. This was the original patio. It was very small. It was super close to the house. It didn’t draw me out. I couldn’t see it, and I could barely fit a table on it. So, Heather was like, this has got to go.

Okay. And Zoe wanted to keep that fenced-in area as a… that was a dog run, so she… but she moved one side so that it didn’t interrupt the living room view. So can you show the rest of the dog run? Yes.

Yeah, so this was the rest, and I decided to move that wall here, and this is where it opens.

Okay. Um, so Zoe, would you mark your septic and explain your thoughts?

Yep. So my septic area is basically this whole thing in between these two regulating lines. I wanted. I didn’t want heavy foot traffic on it, um, because it’s actually not good for a septic system. I wanted plants that were actually better at drawing the water up and wouldn’t interfere with my septic system. There’s great mixes for that prairie, I think prairie Moon or prairie Nursery has one. And then.

One thing to note, you all, if you don’t know where your utilities are, or before you begin any work, call 811, or whatever your local number is to check out where your utilities are. So before you dig a hole for a tree or something, you don’t hit power lines. It’s like the critical thing that a lot of people miss when they start doing their yards. Just know where your utilities are.

All right, now, Zoe, I want you to imagine your circuit, a nice walk around your house, not too close to the house or the road, which is tight in the front.

and start at the driveway and draw a circuit past the front door, and you can use green, that’s perfect, and around your house.

Okay, so I wanted to… my septic. So I went all the way here. Go here, go past here, and then connect to my back door, and then go under the eve of my house back to my driveway. So that’s the circuit.

Okay, so great. So, unlike… and that… That’s about as far as… there’s a whole rock outcropping above the driveway, so basically, this is a pretty nice distance from our house all the way around the house. So, and unlike Lila, um, Zoe can stroll around the entire house.

Um, so, and as we said earlier, she has an acre and a half, so we’re going to show how, in a moment, how she connected things further afield. So, Zoe, um, the next step is to sketch your room. So you’ve imagined your circuit.

So you, um, you’re going to put a circle or square or golden ratio, oval or rectangle to start with. So, let’s put a destination in the furthest edge of your circle. So I’d like you to talk about your game and sunning lawn as you draw it.

Oh, okay.

Okay, I will, and Heather, I want you to note the time. So we’re going to be tight on this. Okay, so I wanted. I one of my many different hobbies is archery. I wanted an area that was big enough for me to shoot an arrow across it, which was about 50 feet. So I luckily have quite a bit of space, and so I decided to keep a pretty big turf grass lawn for this purpose. It’s also very sunny, and I could put some lounges there. Now, quickly, I’m going to erase that. You can see this aerial view, which is how.

There’s kind of a natural curvature there, so making it into a perfect circle was actually working with the existing shape pretty well. So I did a 50-foot circle there.

And that was where my sun lounge area is. So… Thank you, sweetie. So then, Zoe also wanted a large entertaining area with a fire pit and a table for eight, and a grill, and a hot tub. So Zoe show how the patio relates to the regulating lines.

Yes. So, I wanted to do a big patio. Remember, my existing one was tiny. So this is about 20 feet here, which meant if I apply the golden ratio, and I multiply that by 1.5, I get 30 feet. So that meant I could have a 20 by 30 foot patio. And I decided to do it here along the regulating line. So remember, this is a slope up here, so I wasn’t going to put it there.

Um, so I put the edge along here, I bumped it up against that regulating line. You can’t see around corners. That gives it some surprise. And then I made it go about 30 feet along, and I also made it a weird shape. It’s a kidney shape, which is a terrible representation, but my house is mid-century modern, it’s in the shape of an L, so this actually kind of modeled that.

So… And then it has hardscaping. I mean, it’s gravel. So I did pea gravel and I connected that to the back door.

And, uh, just to show how you put things in the beyond for people who have bigger properties. So Zoe put a… is going to put a yoga platform on the hillside, um, so she’s going to have that circuit that she outlined, but that little yellow area on the hillside is going to be a.

Um, uh, yoga platform, and she’s going to have a future shed near the road, um, and a secret fire pit up the hill. So, various things leading off, secondary paths leading off the main one. Zoe, would you just put the path in? And I know we’re very close on time, so I want to get to the… Um, but yes, so that and connected on the other side there. Okay.

And then… So I hope everyone can see this and it gets a sense, but this rough plan is what you can take and then start working on the ground. I want to move right into the exercise, because we only have 11…

And I’m just going to quickly say the only thing I left is turf was the area inside this dog run for this potential future dog I might have, and then I made a winding path up my sloped hill to this yoga platform, and then everything else I am now, over time filling in with native plants.

All right. Well, and yeah, so they… and they… the archery yard and the paths that you show there. Yes. Okay. All right, everyone ready? Yeah.

So, um, just like with Zoe, I want you to… because we have one more drawing to do, so we’re going to do this very quick, okay? So, be quick, be messy, don’t erase. Um, so start with a fresh copy of the aerial view of your yard. You can even draw on top of your original one if you can’t… if you don’t have time.

Um, first, you’re gonna add those regulating lines now, though, and if you’re doing it on top of one, you’ll see whether you’re… how your spaces fit with those lines. So extend the walls of your house and your main doors.

lines from them. Alright? And then indicate a couple of key views with an X about 15 feet in front of your windows, just because you’re going to be thinking about those views, and you want your rooms and your path situated in a way that makes those views particularly enticing. It’s going to bring you outside.

Alright, then you’re gonna just roughly sketch in the most important existing hardscaping if it’s not on your image to start with, and any other major features you plan to keep.

Then you’re going to think about your circuits. So do the regulating lines or views suggest any changes?

Alright, now, um, sketch your rooms. All right. This time move or enlarge them to align with the regulating lines and maximize the views.

Remember to include one at the far edge of your circuit and seating options in both sun and shade.

All right. Lastly, connect your rooms with paths to create your circuit.

All right. We’re going to give everyone another minute, and we know we’re tight on time. You’ll get the recording from Garden for Birds in the next 2 days, I think, Becca, and if you’re watching the recording, hi now. And so you can go back through and redo these and pause on your own time.

Um, but try to hit all of these things, even if they’re super rough and not well thought out right now.

All right.

Okay, so you can keep drawing for one minute while I run through quickly this next slide, which is about testing with furniture. So a great way to test your design is actually to bring a chair outside with you. If you already have some outdoor furniture, and you’re up for moving it, you can.

do that like I did here on the left, but it’s helpful to do this because you can see I originally put this couch facing away from the window, and comparing it with what ended up being the case on the right, where the couch is facing the window, you might be able to see that a couch facing a window is actually a lot more inviting. So this is something that helps you both test out the size and scale and placement of things.

Remember, seating is seating is king or queen. It also helps you understand some things that might draw you out.

All right. So, Heather, you want to talk briefly about paths?

Or… Well, I just want to show people to see that this is one path, but it looks completely different from both directions, and in a moment, you’ll see another photograph of it. So again, walk your paths back and forth.

Um, I can’t… we can’t emphasize enough how much it’s important to test your designs on the ground and often over a long period of time.

Yeah, so this is my dog. Okay.

But let’s go right to the next exercise. Okay, because the last part exercise is to add to one of your sketches, incorporating as many trees and shrubs as possible. So if you’ve been reading my newsletter, and you just heard earlier, um, everyone should be adding more trees and shrubs to their yard. Woody plants create privacy, they blur edges, they borrow views, they divide the space into rooms, they create shade.

They act as focal points, they create pause and surprise. And plus, they’re better. I know we all are into meadows, but shrubs and trees tend to host many, many more caterpillars than wildflowers, and that’s what birds need to feed their young.

So… That’s true.

Also walking paths, as Becca just sent, helps keep weeds from taking root easily. So walk those paths for you, for the weeds, um, and just know that shrubs and trees are great for caterpillars. They’re great architecturally and structurally, and they’re lower maintenance than your meadow.

Okay. Okay, but we only have 6 minutes, Zoe, so let’s continue. All right, so most importantly, for people with birds, trees and shrubs create for both people and birds, they create a sense of enclosure, and that for birds, that safety, uh, is also important. But in terms of people.

Kent’s research shows that enclosure is the number one attribute of a restorative landscape. So that shouldn’t be surprising, because the word garden comes from the word guard, which… and gardens were created to be refuges. So this next picture is of Zoe’s garden, that same path we showed you that looked pretty, pretty bare, but now this is a year or two later.

This I have to show this off for a second. This is the view, that same view, and 2 years later it looks like this. All right.

So enclosure is encapsulating while revealing immediate surroundings. So you want a little perspective so you can see what’s coming at you, but you want to feel that sense of closeness and security. Um, and small gardens can often be best, because while we assume people often assume that.

that open spaces feel comfortable, but it’s actually the reverse. It’s… we like to have this feeling of some enclosure. Um, and in fact, uh… In many yards, we put fences in. I recommend that if possible, you cover your fences or put trees and shrubs in front of your fences, because that makes you feel more softly enclosed than closed in. And I’m going to skip to the next slide, Zoe.

and talk about pause. So another thing to incorporate is some… some pause, or meditation or surprise between your rooms. So here you see a woody vine over an arbor that’s dividing two rooms.

Um, you can create pause a lot of ways. The main thing we’re going to say is just put shrubs and trees, you know, between your rooms to separate them. Um, that creates a sense of wow when you move from one place.

to another. I’m going to look at the next slide. You’ll see how this is a very small narrow yard in London by Stefano Maranas. He kind of created semi-transparent dividers between the rooms with these log walls and native North American avalanche trees.

One of the things he does here is repeat, and we’re going to… if we had more times, we’d talk a lot about repetition, because repeating, um… plants and features in your yard as a way to unite it. And the plants create a lot of chaos, so I wouldn’t worry about creating too much repetition, because it, um, it in fact is going to make your yard feel more unified.

Um, and more comfortable. So, we have three… less than 3 minutes, 2 minutes for the last exercise, so I think Zoe’s gonna have to do it, and you’re gonna have to do it on your own, everyone. Um, so Zoe, would you pull up…

Wait, Heather, Heather, I don’t know what you’re talking about. We have until 6:30, we are okay. Um, so we are going to show them, and then they’re going to do it.

I know, it’s fantastic. And I’m now showing the wrong thing because you just stressed out. So give me a second.

No, I… Oh, good! All right. Thank you. I was looking at my little timer here, which started when we presenters got on, so it’s 15 minutes. Okay. All right. So I’m going to take a breath. Thank you, Zoe. We have time for everyone.

Okay. Yes. Fantastic. Okay.

Okay. All right. So, but we’re up to the… let’s get to the demo, though. All right, so for your last exercise, because this is what’s so important, you’re going to add shrubs and trees, okay, to create enclosure.

pause and views. All right, and we’re going to use Zoe’s lot, that drawing that she created, starting with the rough, uh, that very rough layout. Okay, so Zoe, I want you to start with areas that need privacy, the sense of enclosure.

Um, and the big area was all along the front of Zoe’s house, which is fairly close to the road. So, Zoe, would you show with squiggles, um, the tapestry hedge of shrubs that you planted?

Yep, and a tapestry hedge is simply a mixed hedge with multiple species, and I used things like winterberry and bayberry and hydrangea, and I put them all in. And I, um… and I just saw Bobby say, I just don’t understand how you have many plants that look tropical, but survive your winters. Bobby, all of my plants are native to my ecoregion, and we’ll share a resource at the very end that’s coming soon for that. So.

Go ahead, Heather. Yeah, but you know, it rains a lot in the Hudson Valley. I mean, much more than even in Rhode Island, so her plants benefit from that.

Um, so, okay, you’ve shown your hedge. All right, now put some shrubs in the back to make the patio private, and block the view of the patio, especially the hot tub, from the driveway.

I put some there. And then I actually put some around to block this area here.

From… so that I… I could have low shrubs to kind of give me some separation from the patio. And that, by the way, is the view that everybody saw before, that path that looks… has the patio in it.

Uh, yeah, this… this view here. Okay.

Okay, now let’s add some shrubs, um, and screening within the garden. And particularly, I want to separate those two rooms. So you have two rooms that abut each other along a regulating line.

Um, so, uh, between the… oh, well, actually, I have two things. So, between those two rooms, okay.

Yeah, I put hydrangeas and elderberry there. So that’s where one is. Where’s the other?

I already added those to the drawing. That’s these. Okay, uh, then also between the back of the house and the patio, so you had an AC unit, a hose bib, and so on. You put a little, uh… Oh, sorry, okay. Um, how about screening the view of the fence, um, uh, of the dog run from the patio? You put some woody vines there.

Yeah. So I put American white wisteria along here. It’s unlike some of my shrubs, has not come in as quickly, but it is coming in and blooming. So it’s very small right now.

Cool, alright. So, that’s a lot of screening. Now we’re going to add pause to further define your rooms, okay? Well, you did that, you put between the game lawn and the patio, okay? Um, and those are very dense shrubs.

Um, that create a doorway. Um, another aspect was at the entry to your property, at the beginning of the driveway, you put trees on either side. Can you put a plus sign, which means a new tree with a circle, to indicate those new trees? And what were those?

Those are white flowering dogwood or Cornice, Florida, and they are very we right now, guys. These are those drawings of their canopy, or it’s going to be in years, but they’re really cute.

All right, so lastly, add some shrubs and trees to improve the view, alright? The area you significantly improved was the view.

Okay. So, Heather, I’m going to just jump in and talk while I do this. So right now the view from my house I put 2 Eastern redbuds up here. And then and so I have a view in the spring. I can’t wait for them to bloom for my house.

And wait, could I interrupt you, Zoe, because those were a memorial garden. Somebody mentioned, which is a really wonderful thing to have in your garden, so…

Yeah. Yeah, I think of them as my, like, legacy in so many ways, and so it’s really special, and I see them every day. And then over here, I added, uh, witch hazel, which is the room I’m in now, looks out in these corner windows at that witch hazel, so in the fall, it looks beautiful. And then, guys.

I am now totally obsessed with adding shrubs and trees, so I’ve only shown you a few, but it is like I just ordered 200 tiny, one foot tall seedlings of trees from the DEC, which is our conservation org department of environmental conservation in New York State.

You probably have those in your areas. Heather has some articles about finding resources like this. I’m going to plant them super densely, and in many years, they will be very big, but it’s just, like, it’s part of the joy is just adding in these tiny plants.

Okay. All right. I’m going to stop.

All right. All right, everyone. We’re going to have you add trees and shrubs. Okay.

Yep. So you’re gonna have five minutes for this. So would you put up the instructions. Great. All right. You see the squiggles that Zoe made to make shrubs and the circle with a plus to indicate a tree?

Again, only you have to understand this. So, um, as I did with Zoe, I’m going to read the instructions while you sketch, um, and you can go at my pace or your own. All right, so pick your favorite of your two earlier sketches.

Um, now add shrubs. squiggles and trees.

to add, let’s talk about enclosure or privacy or first privacy from the outside.

or a sense of enclosure for your rooms.

Next, add screening. So to hide unattractive views, the view of your trash cans.

you know, the view of a neighbor’s house that you don’t like the look of.

Now add pause or surprise. So that’s, you know, something at the bend of a path to hide the view as you… as you turn the bend, or transitions between rooms.

Or as Zoe had, that the trees on either side of her driveway to sort of say, you know, that sort of become the doorway to the property.

All right, now think about the views from that from inside your house that could use a green focal point. So, like, a tree that you… that’s maybe… and I… I actually go out and test this. I have someone stand inside, or I stand inside, and they go out and pretend they’re a tree.

To find where you want to put the tree from the distance from your, um… from your window, but think about the view from inside, and as Zoe said, that might be centering a path on the window, or putting, uh, could be centering furniture on it, facing the window to draw you out, or it could be putting.

a tree, so think about the tree.

you call the time when you think it’s time? We’ve got another minute and then we’re moving on.

Okay.

All right. A lot of people are asking about deer. Deer are very important. We have a couple articles on ways you can manage for that in the Northeast. They’re one of our biggest threats to our forest. I’m actually an ecological hunter and close the loop by donating my venison to food pantries up here.

So there’s the big scale ways of handling this and small scale. And so the articles that we’re sharing in the chat can help you with the smaller scale stuff.

All right, so… Both Zoe and I essentially enclose our shrubs and trees in the winter. Yeah.

the winter, when there are the hungriest, and they don’t have enough food. Okay, so guys, put your pens down. You did it. So if you did the exercises, um, maybe you went back and watched the recording after, but you’ve got a preliminary layout now, and.

Congratulations, because that’s huge. And remember, you cannot mess this up. This is just a draft. You can keep working on it. No one needs to see this except for you, and only you need to understand it right now.

So we moved quickly and you took a lot in. So we’re just going to quickly recap key ideas, which is you worked with seven out of the 10 restorative landscape attributes. These aren’t guaranteed just by planting natives. They make your yard feel good to be in.

Um, if you’re wondering about the other three, those are about senses, sound, and water, and they show up when you plant more natives and you add water features. You also use 7 traditional design principles, blurring boundaries, borrowed views, golden ratio, screening, regulating lines, symmetry, and unity.

So you’ll work again with those as again as you revise your plan again and again.

So, how does this all come together and actually help you transform your yard? So think back to the sketch you just made. You picked rooms. You drew paths or your hallways, and you started to see your yard as a whole, not just a collection of patches, and that’s huge.

So after today, you’ve got the tools to turn that sketch into a real plan, and how to keep moving forward without getting overwhelmed is key in having a plan. So most people start with perennials, a couple flowering plants, and it’s a great place to begin. But if you want to do this to your whole yard, you need a plan that shows where everything fits in. People, plants, and all.

So these images are from Wild Ones native garden design for Dallas Fort Worth, and they show these steps that go from an overall layout, which is what we created, to defining planting zones, which is things like function screening, a focal point, a rain garden, or conditions. So sunny, shady, moist.

Then, within each zone, you choose your woody plants, you choose the specific shrubs and trees you want, and then, lastly, you choose your perennials and your grasses, and those fill in each zone and bring in the seasonal color, the texture, and the habitat.

And this is a step-by-step structure. It lets you move forward even just one zone at a time. And the best part is that you are allowed to change your mind, guys. You can move plants. My clients know I’m telling them to always move plants. Hi, Teresa. Um, you’ll revise your layout, and that’s not failure, that’s part of the design process. So this framework lets you make intentional decisions and even break the rules when it serves your vision.

Um, because now.

So, so could you pause for one second? Because somebody asked, and we got this question once before about maintaining views. If you have views you like, that is your view. You know, that is, uh, so you have to think about… you can frame them by putting trees on either side.

Um, but, you know, you don’t need to enclose everything if you have beautiful views. Obviously, you should.

you know, or views that you’re enjoying, then make the most of them. So, sorry, continue.

Okay. Thank you, Heather. I’m managing the time. So guys, we might go one minute over now. That’s how blame Heather. So this brings me to one thing that my favorite troublemaker said, which is know the rules well so you can break them effectively. So have a framework and then you can.

just decide to break rules. So remember, if it’s not a room or a path, plant it. The left is my woodland garden that I started with. The right is the second next zone I did, which is that archery area surrounded by a mint border, a native mint border, and my septic field over on the right.

Um, with the meadow on top of it. And so to reinforce your learning, can everyone go into the chat and put in one thing you learned in today’s workshop and do that while I continue? Because remember, this is to reinforce your learning. This is not for us, so just put in something there.

And the next steps, keep the momentum going. You’re going to refine your layout and test it on the ground. You’re going to map your planting zones and set your priorities, maybe based on privacy or a great view, or solving that moist spot with a rain garden. You’re going to start with just one zone this spring. You’re not going to go too big, because then it’ll be a maintenance nightmare, and you will not succeed. We want you to succeed.

You can sign up for Heather’s free newsletter at designyourwild.com. There’s so many questions we didn’t get to, and Heather will address those with time. You can get planting guidance and designs from… it’s not on here, but Wild Ones has a great resource, and also Garden for Birds has fantastic resources, so please check out their site and make sure you sign up for Becca’s program.

Um, and then lastly, if you’re looking for more, we’re creating something new at Wilder, which we’re releasing this spring. If you’re not on the waitlist already, scan this QR code, pull up your phone with a camera. We’ll send the link out, I think, through with Becca afterwards. But.

Like Garden for birds, our mission at Wilder is to make it easier, more accessible, and more fun to create habitat in your own backyard. So we’re building a tool to help you create and manage that habitat. And one of the first things we’re making is a plant recommendation tool. So it’s going to tell you the best plants for your ecoregion that.

probably you can buy commercially, and that are aligned with your goals, and that support the most caterpillars and at-risk species. So I’ll put the link in the chat so you can join that waitlist if you’re not already on it. Coming out this May as part of Wilder’s Less Lawn More Life Challenge. We’re doing it again this year, so we hope you all will participate.

Thank you, everyone. And I… it’s just been a pleasure being here with you. Thank you, Becca and Vari and the Cornell Labs team. Thank you to all of you and love speaking with my mom. So thank you guys for being here, and you’ll get the recording soon, and we hope to see you again at another workshop soon.

Right?All right. Thank you

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